Making Sense of the World with Words

A funny thing happened in church last Sunday morning. . .
The pastor had just begun his sermon when there was a small bang, and then a louder bang coming from the back of the sanctuary. I was in the front, so I couldn’t hear or see clearly what had happened, but it sounded too big for it to be caused by a person. I thought, then, that perhaps a bookcase had fallen over or something. The pastor paused, and a few people in the back ran out to see what had happened. There was a bit of confusion, and people were obviously not going to pay attention, so the pastor continued to wait. Then one of the ushers came up to the front of the church and told the pastor what had really happened, and then he announced it to the rest of us:

There had been a car accident outside the church, which was the first, smaller bang. The second, louder bang happened when one of the cars swerved and actually hit the church building. When this was announced, I was immediately curious to see how this could be so, since the church is set back about 20 feet from the street. But we continued the service (after several people, including a few nurses, went out to help the people involved), and so it wasn’t possible to check it out right away. At the end, though, I stepped outside, and sure enough, there was a car wedged in the corner where the front steps meet the main building. One person was slightly injured, and there was a hole in the church.

That’s probably the most excitement I’ve experienced at church for a long time. I wonder whether that’s a bad thing, or a good thing.